As with any hobby, fish keepers have a tendency to get overzealous. We’re always looking for something bigger, better, and more exciting. Whether this is a bigger tank, being first to breed a particular species, bringing out some extraordinary feature, owning the most rare and unusual fish, there is often a sense of one upmanship in the hobby. Sometimes, though, there’s a good reason to resist your urge and just step away.

For over a year, Segrest Farms and other industry leaders have been working with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to develop and implement testing and treatment regimens to address concerns over a chytrid fungus from Asia named Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (frequently shortened to Bsal).

For several months we have had in place, and encouraged other suppliers to do the same, a voluntary moratorium refusing to carry certain species including the Fire Belly Newt (Cynops pyrrhogaster) and Paddletail Fire Newts (Pachytriton brevipes).

The USFWS has decided to put in place an interim ruling listing all species from 20 genera as injurious, making it illegal to import these species into the United States or transport them across state lines. The ruling goes into effect Thursday, January 28th 2016.

If you follow us closely, you will have heard or seen us mention on occasion Project Piaba . In our blog post on Environmental Sustainability in the Ornamental Fish Industry, I discussed the benefits of sustainable wild collection operations. There are several existing operations that are performing vigorous research into the best methods of collection and carefully monitoring fish populations in order to ensure they are operating sustainably. The fishery in West Hawaii, for example, is arguably the most heavily researched and monitored fishery in the world. But when I was writing the post and discussing the benefits of a sustainable fishery, Project Piaba is what I was most closely thinking about.

Green Anoles, Anolis carolinensis, is a native to the south that is being displaced by Cuban Brown Anoles, Anolis sagrei.

A Look At Invasive Species

As much as many would like to deny it, the fact that invasive species are one of the greatest threats to native ecosystems is no big secret. As one of the hotbeds for invasive species, here in Florida we have invasions ranging from the highly publicized reports (often bordering on fear-mongering) of invasive giant pythons (primarily the Burmese Python, Python bivittatus) in the everglades to the ubiquitous and often overlooked Cuban Brown Anoles that live in virtually every yard across the state. Across the country, there are invasive populations of many species of animals and plants that receive various levels of attention. With the seemingly never ending list of non-native species that have been able to gain footholds in new areas, we have to ask how this happens, how do we stop it from continuing, and what role have we as pet hobbyists played?

Carp species such as Koi and Goldfish are susceptible to several serious pathogens including SVC and KHV.

Biosecurity for the Retailer and Hobbyist

Sooner or later, anybody who keeps fish should start looking into how to integrate biosecurity measures to ensure the long term health and success of their tanks. What exactly is biosecurity? Simply put, it is a fancy term for how to minimize the risk of introducing diseases to your fish. For the large scale suppliers of ornamental fish, biosecurity is a never ending concern. Fish farms and wholesalers have lost their entire inventories, and sometimes even their businesses, as the result of pathogens quickly rampaging through their fish. Does the time and care that these companies put towards this mean that you are completely safe and never have to worry about it? Unfortunately not.

Beginner's Guide to Reptiles

Overview

Few types of animals can evoke such divisive reactions as reptiles. Those who dislike reptiles often don't just feel dislike but also fear, loathing, and hatred. On the other side, there are many who love everything about reptiles and develop close bonds and boundless fascination with them. With more than 10,000 species, there is an amazing diversity in reptiles, from geckos and chameleons that grow no more than an inch in length to crocodiles and snakes that can grow more than twenty feet in length. With this much variation in individual species, there is no one formula you can apply to them all when considering how to keep them, but there are common needs you can use as a starting point when learning about their care.

This week's blog post is going to be a little bit different from the usual. Those of you who have followed our Facebook page for a long time may have already read this old post from a now-defunct blog from January 2013. It offers a little bit of a behind the scenes glimpse into Segrest Farms (and shows a little bit how much of fish nerds we truly are!).

Tank Raised Clownfish

A Brief Overview

When it comes to captive breeding, there has still been relatively little success when compared to breeding freshwater fish. This is due, in large part, to the significantly more complex life cycle of marine fish in which most species will hatch from eggs into what is known as a pelagic larval stage. During this phase, the fish larvae are almost completely helpless, floating in the current and eating whatever microorganisms happen to pass closely enough for them to grab. Replicating the precise conditions that allow these larvae to survive until they are ready to settle to the bottom and metamorphose into their final form is often still a challenge that, for many fish, nobody knows the solution for. However, in recent years there have been several notable breakthroughs in the culture of marine organisms, and perhaps none of these are as impressive as the proliferation of captive bred clownfish.

Within the realm of keeping captive animals (whether you consider them "pets" or not), there are so many niches that it would seem to be impossible to experience them all. You have to ask yourself a number of questions when deciding what you want to keep. Do you want an animal that is interactive, such as dogs, cats, and many birds, or do you want an animal that is more of a look but don't touch pet, such as fish or certain reptiles? Do you know (and can you meet) the care requirements for this animal for the entirety of its (often long) life? Do you want something fairly common or more unique? Do you find any animal just too creepy to keep, or do you enjoy creatures that other people avoid? If you enjoy the creepier side of the animal kingdom, one of the most underrated pet niches is Tarantula keeping.

The Lionfish Ban

What is it and what does it mean?

On August 1, 2014, regulations put in place by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will make it illegal to import any lionfish from the Pterois genus from any out of state source into Florida. This limits hobbyists, retailers, wholesalers, and research institutions here to only being able to keep or transport those lionfish that can be collected from waters within the state of Florida. There are widespread implications of this ruling ranging from the concrete and immediate to the hypothetical and theoretical. Below, we will take a look at why this ruling was passed, how it affects us now, and what it could lead to in the future.